A large family of c. 500 genera and c. 6000 species. Predominantly woody and distributed in the tropics and sub-tropics. Represented in Pakistan by 33 genera and c. 87 species, about half cultivated or introduced for ornamental purposes. Cultivated taxa have been marked with an asterisk (*). Native genera are mostly herbaceous in our area.

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to the Directors/Curators of the following herbaria for the loan of herbarium material: ISL, K. PESH, PPFI-B. Thanks are also due to Dr. B. Verdcourt, Mrs. D. M. Bridson of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Mr. I.C. Hedge of Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Prof. F. Ehrendorfer and Dr. E. Schonbeck-Temesy of Botanisches Institut and Botanischer Garten der Universitat, Wien, Austria for going through the manuscript and offering very valuable suggestions. We are also indebted to Dr. H.W. Lack and Dr. M. Hakki, Botanischer Garten and Botanisches Museum, Berlin for providing photocopies of relevant literature. The financial assistance provided by the United States Department of Agriculture under P.L. 480 with the coordination of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad is gratefully acknowledged.